You may have intuited…

…that I’m having a little trouble posting this week. As Thanksgiving gets closer project deadlines are stacking up a bit. But I shall not fail to complete my sweet potato pie, that I promise you.

4 thoughts on “You may have intuited…”

  1. Hi Joe – Questions about pie crust – I’m counting on you!
    1) I am wondering with that vodka pie crust advocated by Cook’s Illustrated – can this also be used for galette, or is it too soft? I made the crust once for a regular pie and it was pretty good but I am afraid that pieces of apple might poke through the sides and the juices might run out.
    2) For my galette crust, I have been employing a method called “frissage” after barely tossing in the water with the butter/flour. You smear small amounts of the mixture across the board with the back of your hand, scrape that up with a bench scraper and put it aside while you smear the next amount – continue til done. Gather up all those shreds, wrap in plastic and refrigerate as usual, etc. etc. It makes a sturdy, yet very flakey dough for the galettes. Am I wasting my time? I think this method results in better galettes than not using it. Is this my imagination?

    1. Hey Melinda!

      The vodka crust will work about the same for a galette, perhaps a bit better since the alcohol tends to create a bit more flexibility. You’ll still get a few cracks and some running juice, that’s pretty much the way of galettes.

      As for the frissage smearing technique, I see that employed more often with tart crusts, simply because the act of smearing the dough incorporates the butter more thoroughly. That has pros and cons like everything. On the up side the dough is more uniform so it won’t crack as easily (fewer large pockets of fat). On the down it ends up tougher and more crumbly than flaky. It’s up to you!

      Best of luck!

      – Joe

  2. Intuited? I don’t think so. But I did thunk that maybe you were busy. Have a nice Thanksgiving holiday!

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